Three Siblings
by blanc-hiver
Summary: As the oldest in the family, Temari works for the sake of her two little brothers. Suddenly, the restaurant she works goes bankrupt. Fortunately, another restaurant employed her, but the son of the boss is...! ShikaTema, GaaNaru
1. Sleeping Bastard

Three Siblings

Chapter 1: Sleeping bastard

"Gaara, don't forget your lunchbox! And Kankurou," she kissed him lightly on his cheek, "Good luck on your final exam. I'm going for work!"

"Sis, don't forget to buy some vegetables on the way home! It's not healthy to eat meat all days." Kankuro shouted before his sister leave.

"Shoot! Gaara, could you buy them on the supermarket for dinner? 'Cause I'll be home at 9." The oldest sister glimpsed at Gaara hopefully. He nodded, "Okay."

While hurrying out, Temari glimpsed back at her family. All happy faces. She smiled in relieve.

As the oldest, the dark-blonde woman was responsible for her family. This was not a burden for her because she loved her brothers. Ever since their father was put in jail, everyone had been working hard. But this condition was actually the best for them.

Their mother passed away while giving birth to the youngest, Gaara. Stressed with grieve, the one they _once_ called as father became drunken-ass. He lost his job at the same time. With that, he abused his children who _once_ he loved. The worst victim was Gaara. Gaara grew up with a father who tried to kill him. It seemed that he immaturely accused the red-haired boy as the death of his beloved wife. Temari was still in the second grade when the abusing began. It was an awful time. Gladly, it had passed. There was time when Temari called 911 when the father almost stabbed her youngest brother. That was the last day of their nightmare.

The little girl now was a woman. She dropped out highschool and, for a meantime, worked as a waiter in her relative's restaurant. Kankuro was in third year of juniorhigh. He would be in highschool three months later. While Gaara…he was still lost in his dark past. The aura became better lately indeed. It happened since he met "someone who's the same as me", he would say. Temari didn't know much about the blond he had been hanging around lately, except the fact she had seen him. Actually she was scared that her brother would turn out to be gay, but that seemed fine if he was happy.

Thinking about the past, Temari ran along the pedestrian. She would be late if she had not. Fortunately, the pedestrian was not as congested as usual.

"Why? Why would I think about the past in such time!!! Uwa!!!"

It turned out that the pedestrian was not as clear as it was. Someone was lazily lying on the pavement, or maybe, sleeping. Temari did not notice until she tripped on that person.

"Hey!!! You're blocking the way!!!" blurted her, as she turned to see a weird pony-tailed boy in her age, sleeping (!?) lazily on the road. _That's ridiculous! _The boy grumbled and lazily opened his eyes. Temari looked at him sharply. _What's he going to do now? _Still, the boy did not move. In five seconds interval, he yawned and rubbed his eyes, and then slowly stood, leaving Temari sat angrily.

"Ah…I slept well…" was all he said, and went. A vein popped in the left-behind person. Quickly she jumped out and grabbed his shoulder. The boy stopped moving and at last felt the presence of a woman near him.

"Hey, miss! You're slowing me down!" O-oh. Temari couldn't stay silent anymore. Not only one, this time more than five veins popped. "And who the heck slowing me down!!!" She shouted, grapping harder until the boy panicked of dying by it.

"What is your problem???" the boy asked after he managed to move the crazy woman's hand. Temari glared, darkly, till the boy was speechless.

"What is…my problem you ask?" With strong annoyance, she stifled him mercilessly, "You slept on the on the road! Wake up innocently when I've just tripped on you and you didn't even say sorry!?!?!? No wait, you made me look stupid! Moreover, I'm late for work now!!!" _Argh! Bad timing!_ The poor girl dashed to the restaurant just after she glanced at the silly pineapple bastard, "Next time I see you you'll be dead for sure!!!" while giving him middle finger.

The pony-tailed boy breathed heavily, trying to get oxygen on the pavement. He kept on watching the ludicrous weird-hairstyle woman.

"Scary, troublesome woman"

**A/N: Fuuh…that's for first chapter. Argh! Should I really post this story??? Well, I need your reviews to make sure that I do the right thing…Oh, fyi, I think I will add Gaanaru story in the third chapter. Hehe… and I wonder if Kankuro should have any pairing or not . Has anyone have any suggestion? If you have, press the reviews button and give your opinion *grin*. **

**Jya~ nee~**


	2. New Work

**A/N: Sorry for the lame update! Hope you still remember this story! Thank you for ****Lupita, Zora-chan, and GloryX ****for reviewing this story! *bow* As ****Lupita**** suggested, I lengthen the story *grin* Meanwhile, for ****Zora-chan****: Nice idea on KakuTen! ******** Guess I make KakuTen too. Sorry ****GloryX**** for the long wait T.T Hope you enjoy this chap! **

Chapter 2: New Work

"Ne, Kakukuro," the youngest son asked with a very low voice, tapping the table lightly, "What's taking sis so long?"

It was almost 10 PM. The woman had to hurry home, but she couldn't. She had no face to meet her family. Anxious to make her brothers worry, she decided to go home.

"I'm back!" came her cheerful voice from the doorway.

'Sister was late. Very. Did something happen to her?' Gaara thought. "Welcome back." He opened his mouth slightly. "Kankuro wanted to wait for you but he was too tired from the exam."

Temari noted his brother's absence. "Then he's-"

"Sleeping. In his room" Gaara finished the sentence, closing his panda eyes.

The oldest sister sighed in relieve. Her littlest brother was just the cutest. People could only tell his real expression if he/she had been together with him more than two years, well, Naruto was an exception. Kankuro was also loved of course. Everyone had his own specialty. And, how could she, the one that loved or being loved the most, tell them about _it_?

"Something wrong?"

Temari jumped at the voice of her beloved one. Being snapped back to reality, she smiled, lovingly.

"Nothing."

She couldn't tell him, even after she sent Gaara to bed rather than washing the dishes. There were so much time to tell, but so little courage she had. But she would tell. Later when she was ready.

Temari sat, recalling the time when the sound of sobs filled the office room, wetting the floor. She stood in front of her aunt, eyes widened. It had been half-a-year that she had been working to her aunt. But she never knew that this was the last day for her to stay at that restaurant.

"_I, I'm sorry, Temari-chan," she sobbed, "but this restaurant isn't good enough." _

_It took time for her Aunt to continue. This restaurant was made with her husband and herself's efforts for three years. _

"_There will be an apartment built here." No, don't continue. "We will have to close this place." _

Hearing the news, Temari's mind went blank. Although she smiled back then to comfort her aunt, she couldn't help to let a tiny drop of tear fall from the corner of her eye. Her aunt had been supporting her so much in working so that she could live her family. Now that an apartment would be built, her aunt Yashamaru had no other choice to close the restaurant and moved to another town. So how could she, Temari, worked for living again? She needed, no matter what, to find a new job. But it wasn't easy for a high school drop-out to find a job.

She stood, walking toward her room. Slowly, she passed the narrow gap between her room and her brothers', leading her in checking her siblings. Gently, she turned the doorknob and entered soundlessly. The oldest sister watched her dark-brown-haired brother, mumbling something in his sleep. She kissed him in the forehead and suddenly he started to blush. The biggest possibility was that Kankurou was dreaming of his girlfriend; hope it was not something dirty.

"Love you," she whispered before going into Gaara's room.

It had been a long time for her to see Gaara's room with the person inside it. Rare also that she saw him sleeping defenselessly. Her youngest brother had serious insomnia and had gone to the doctor several times in vain. Usually Gaara sat or lying on the bed while reading book until 2 a.m. She rubbed the boy's forehead and muttered 'Love you, brother' in his deep sleep. Then she walked out.

It appeared that Gaara's insomnia hadn't recovered. He sat up, glancing at the door, and spoke under his breath, "Something's not right."

Morning had arisen. The three back to their daily habit in the dining room. Temari cooked, Kankuro ate with eyes closed -in other word sleepy-, while he himself chewed his breakfast silently. His sister looked happy so far, or maybe not. After saying goodbye, Gaara fixed his eyes on Kankuro, who would be leaving soon too.

"Hey, Kankuro," the younger called.

"hn?"

Thinking over, he hesitated, "Nothing."

***

Temari minced along the pavement. She really had no need to go out in the morning like that. Still, she couldn't bring to tell her family about this. In the middle of distress, her handphone vibrated, followed by certain ringtone. The woman was bothered by it but still picking it up.

"Hello," she answered.

"Temari-chan!" Her Aunt's voice beamed.

"Yes, Aunt?"

"Hurry up to Tamasecho 12-2!!!"

She was confused. "Why?"

"Just come! It's one in a lifetime chance!!!"

She hung up, leaving Temari clueless.

The young woman couldn't understand what her aunt was going to show her with such rapture, but since she had nothing to do, she walked home for a while and ran her bike to Tamasecho 12-2. Tamasecho road was not very far from her house. With bike, it took approximately 15 minutes.

She pedaled in medium speed, enjoying the view of the river. Tortoises were swimming on the edge of the clear river. It was her best habit to feed those tortoises on the way she went home from work. This habit was passed through her dead father. When she was little, her father used to bring a pack of tortoises' food every time he ambled to the supermarket so that he could stop by and feed those animals. His children were used to seeing that and therefore copying his move, even Gaara.

In her task, she had no time for such hobby. All she could think was Tamasecho 12-2 and there, she arrived. She checked if the address was correct. It was a yakiniku restaurant with a big 'Ino-Shika-Cho' mark above the door. Scrutinizing, she found out that that place was much bigger than her aunt's. Why did her aunt call her here? The brunette kept holding her bright expectation, afraid that if her hope was too high, she would feel more disappointed afterward.

Off she pushed the door, letting the welcome bell rang. The moment she entered, the moment she checked out surveillance. The inside was simple, yet neat. The neatness had a strong point in clearness. Before she could walk fro, her aunt called, "Temari-chan!"

Temari looked over to the source of voice and found her aunt standing in front of three middle-aged men. She hurried to her aunt and managed a bow to the three persons. They bowed back.

"Is this the girl you're talking about?"

One of the men pointed his index finger at the new-comer. He had a face of a father, complex to be explained. His hair was long and light-brown. The straight expression of his made a chill out of you as if he could manipulate and enter his soul to your body. Strange description.

"Yes, she is the dearest niece of mine." Yashamaru smiled.

"Quite built" The fattest of them smirked while scratching his chin.

Temari stared at all of them, quite puzzled.

The last man realized this and said, "Yashamaru, don't tell me you haven't told her about our discussion."

Aunt Yashamaru laughed, "I couldn't find the right time."

Sighing, the last man rubbed the back of his head, just below the spiky pony tail. Strangely, his appearance kind of resembles someone Temari knew, but at that time, she couldn't muster any thoughts at all.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

The long-haired explained, "We heard that Yashamaru has to, unfortunately, close her restaurant. She told us about it and about you too. Since one of our workers got pregnant and quitted, we were considering if we should hire you."

Temari's body went rigid.

"Ah…Yashamaru, next time tell her the matter first before summoning her to us. It ends up troublesome." The spike-head grumbled.

"Sorry, my bad."

Lowering his hand from his head, the spike-head motioned his hand into a pre-shake. The woman was dumbfounded but he continued.

"Do you agree to working for us?"

She did not hesitate, instead, grabbed his hand with both hands, crying, "Absolutely! Thank you so much for the offer! Thank you!"

After all the commotion, she rubbed her tears and smirked. The three men smiled back at her.

The fattest shouted, "Well then, shall we see you in three days?"

"Roger."


	3. Another Pine Cone

_Blanc-hiver: HOLIDAY!!! Woohoo! Thank you Lupita for the review. I wonder if you could review in real profile so I can private message you ____ Um, so I try figuring up funny things in this new chap. Btw, I guess this story ain't ShikaTema anymore =.=' I mean, it'll be still ShikaTema but I will focus on the Sabaku family, I think. The title's Three Siblings, no? Hey, I know there're people marking Story Alert for this story. Rather, it's better if ya guys give a comment 'bout it. I accept question, opinion, suggestion, or even criticism (smells like challenge *lick lips*). _

_Inner H: You're wasting times on your story dude._

_Blanc-hiver: Sorry. Here it goes!_

Chapter 3: Another pine cone

"_We're fighting dreamers! Takami wo mezashite. Fighting Dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu! ---_"

The read-head panda laid on his bed's wall, intently watching the other boy singing "Go". Raising his voice, the blonde strummed his guitar in perfect beat. After he was finished, he stood from the chair, bowing his head in thanks. Gaara clapped his hands.

"Bravo." He smiled.

Naruto blushed at his simple comment and scratched his whisker cheek. He felt awkward. Gaara could read his mind and tapped the empty space beside him, allowing Naruto to sit. Swiftly, he placed his guitar and jumped to the bed.

The blond panted, "I am so nervous!!!"

"I can see that."

"I'm going to perform it in front of 200 people next Friday!"

"I know. You've practiced hard. I bet you can you can do it. Good luck."

Groaning, Naruto rolled on the bed like worm in heat. To this time, Gaara seemed unusually uninterested; instead he meandered in his own mind, not noticing his beloved fox. Naruto realized this.

"Something bothering you?" he asked.

The red-head blinked and hugged his knees as he looked at the other boy. "Nothing."

The boy laughed lightly, forming his foxy eyes, "I know you Gaara. Spill it."

The sand boy thought inertly before staring at his friend in deep gaze. Emotionlessly, he explained all the weird behavior his sister had done. If a person had just met Gaara for even 2 months, he would not recognize the anxiety in his eyes. As Temari thought, Naruto was an exception. Naruto felt a barrier of apprehension pushing him in Gaara's eyes. Though Gaara's words were short and simple, Naruto had to cut them and gently stroke his shoulder.

Both of them ceased in silence, waiting for the barrier to diminish.

Then Gaara inhaled leisurely, "I'm fine", and exhaled.

"Good." Naruto smiled.

There was a complete silence.

The blond made a move. "Since when did it start?" he hesitated, "Your sister's behavior."

"Since two days ago"

"Hn…" The boy wondered.

Before he opened his mouth for suggestion, the eldest sister ran through the door, panting. She grinned the widest. Gaara could hardly blink at the sight. Yesterday she was a total sullen, now everything about her was sunshine.

"Dinner's ready!!!" His oldest sister smirked. Seeing Naruto, she added, "Ara! You're here, Naruto! How 'bout joining us dinner?"

The young boy tilted his head, precisely, raising his brow, at Gaara of course. Gaara shrugged. This was pretty confusing on Naruto, especially about the offer. Temari never invited Nauto to a dinner, family dinner. Unsure with the bright offer, he shook his head at his friend's dearest sister. The ponytail woman pouted. Naruto was bad at this. Feeling guilty, he nodded with his foxy grin, "I mean, Sure!" and put in more politeness, "That is so nice of you, Temari-nee. Thank you!"

"Nice." The cheerful woman smiled at his comments.

Suddenly, a switch turned on in Temari's head. With a devious smile, she briskly walked over her brother and hissed, "How about letting your boyfriend sleepover tonight?" in a seductive voice, "In your room of course"

Steam coming out of his ears, Gaara blushed and ready to react. Unfortunately for Gaara, Temari ran out already, hurrying them to go down. Naruto was clueless about Gaara's rare blush, but instead he pulled his arm and led him to the dining room.

There the whole Sabaku family and Naruto sat. One handing over the food, one groaned impatiently, while the other two sat in intimacy. All bliss of happiness was back. Tonight's dinner was crocket, fresh vegetable, and miso soup. As all the food was handed, Temari watched them nervously, waiting for the reaction of the hard dish she had made. Remember, _made _not _bought_.

The three took the crockets and gulped it ravenously (except Gaara). Temari could hardly open her eyes until Naruto and Kankuro's voice beamed.

"UUUMAAAIIII!!!!"

The chef cleared her ears. Duo noisy were in the house. Well, she still couldn't hide her contentment. Last, she scrutinized Gaara meticulously. Gaara was no stupid, he felt the look poking him to talk. He smiled imperceptibly.

"Taste great."

She could not hold back anymore.

"Ufufufu!!!" The woman laughed in victory. The three stared at her disbeliefly, Kankuro's crocket fell from his chopsticks.

Realizing how embarrassing her act was, the woman sat down, pretending the embarrassment never occur. Too bad this act resulted in and awkward situation. Until long, the guest coughed and spoke, "I, I wonder. You seem so joyful today, Temari-nee. Something good happening back then?"

The pigtails choked her drink, leaving the other patting her back to calm the coughs. After all the commotion, Temari, again, grinned the widest.

"No," she replied, "Something wonderful happened."

~O~

The three sat in awe. Temari had just told them everything in detail from when Yashamaru told her about her restaurant and how she was introduced to "Ino-shika-cho" so-called restaurant. The only one smiling was Temari, until silence broke out.

"That's amazing, Tema-nee!" the blond boy chirruped, followed by Kankuro's similar comments.

Temari responded in shy laugh, Kankuro also began to join the conversation. They were all in light discussion of how lucky she was. Maybe she was made to retire, but "Ino-Shika-Cho" was something. It was the biggest yakiniku restaurant in town. As they chatted, Gaara gloomed.

"Why?" he asked in a low voice.

The woman asked back confusingly. "Why what?"

Suddenly Gaara glared, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Temari gasped. Certainly, she knew that what Gaara mean was why she didn't share her problems with her family. She wanted to, but couldn't. She said so.

"I…I can't. I don't want to worry you guys."

Gaara almost lost control of anger but Naruto gripped his wrist. Instead, he rolled his eyes almost invisibly, "But you worry us sister."

She gasped, taken aback by her brother's words. He was right. She had never thought that her brothers were also anxious. Moreover, he called her…sister. It was a very rare occasion, yet comforting. She was touched, very. Slowly, her tears began falling down, followed by sobs. Temari realized that everyone was staring at her. Burried in shame, she covered her eyes, wiping her tears and tried to stop her hiccups. It had been so long for her to cry that much. It struck her that she had kept her feeling too much by herself. Unusual with the situation, Gaara felt awkward at handling her sister; Naruto came to rescue.

He whispered to Gaara's ear, "Hug."

So Gaara did. Comforted by Gaara's warmth, she let everything out. Kankuro wasn't just looking, he jumped at both of them while shouting 'I love you sis!'. On the other hand, Naruto watched them lovingly and slowly escaped from the three siblings before Gaara called, "Naruto."

Naruto peeked from his soldier by the call and he saw the siblings offering him to join the hug. Why not?

"Stay over tonight." Gaara looked into Naruto's eyes.

Again, why not?

After being held for so long, Temari spoke up, "I'm glad" she gazed upon her family (including Naruto), "that I have people that love me."

The night ended in memorable family love.

~O~

"I'm going!" Cheerfully Temari shouted, ready for Ino-Shika-Cho challenge.

All the family members nodded and said goodbye (Naruto now was included to the family).

This was the first day of her work; Temari would not let her guard down. She went out much earlier.

Slowing her bicycle, she snatched her tortoise's food box and walked to the edge of the river. She hummed happily while she was pouring down a handful of tortoise's food to the river. The river lured a small wave as if showing her gratitude. Temari smiled. Then she checked her digital watch to see how many minutes left. It took only one minute to the restaurant from the river and she still had ten minutes before her assign time. So she stood, watching the fishes and tortoises eating voraciously.

The breeze was calm and the sky was pallid orange with violet blue mixture. So peaceful, goaded her to take a nap. She decided to lie down for a moment. There she slowly relaxed her spine on the grass. But rather than relax, she felt a something like log on her head. Afraid of mysterious item, she stood up to see what the actual thing she was sleeping on was.

It shaped like a porcupine, no, a pineapple. Pineapple? It seemed that she was having a déjà vu. The sleeping bastard.

In five seconds interval, he yawned and rubbed his eyes, and then slowly stood, leaving Temari sat angrily.

"Ah…I slept well…" was all he said, and went.

Now that's déjà vu.

"Hold it!" The brunette shouted.

The lazy boy turned. This time, there was a slight difference in the déjà vu.

"Troublesome woman/pine cone!" The two gaped in harmony. In harmony meant at the same time, not in _harmony_.

Temari's pissed-off glare turned into evil smile, giving the other boy creep. She laughed maniacally, "Khukhukhu…" and smirked at the boy, "We still haven't solved our last time rendezvous right, Mr. Pine-kun."

Shoot, the boy thought.

"I'm afraid there is no problem back then." The boy laughed nervously. Temari smirked more. Shoot.

Quickly he got up and dashed. Dashed as fast as a lazy man could do. _Oh, no you won't_, Temari thought. She rode her bycicle and chased after the problematic guy. She had totally forgotten about her work until the boy entered the still-close restaurant. Now Temari was the one cursing under her breath. She parked her bike and surged to the restaurant. The boy might be a thief!

Breathing messily, she checked out the surveillance to see a pineapple. Good, she targeted one behind the kitchen's door. She bolted and caught the boy's hem. Satisfied, she grabbed his shoulder to knock him out with her karate move. But…was it just her or the boy get bigger…taller…and…oh shoot.

"Uwooh! Temari-chan, what are you doing!" The old man shrieked. Not shriek in a feminine way of course, it was manly.

Temari, realizing that this man was the owner, quickly let go of him and bowed several times, also cleaning his messy blouse. The long-haired and fatty watched in perplexity.

This was the first day of work. Nice job, Temari.

"I deeply apologize! I mistook you for--ah!!!" She cut her sentence as a mini-owner stood beside the ponytailed owner. "You!" She shouted.

The lazy boy was surprised and hid behind the man.

The tall ponytailed hair inspected them in bewilderment. First, he spoke to the boy. "Oi, Shikamaru, you know Temari-chan?"

The boy shook his head repeatedly, "No way I know this crazy woman! She tripped on me twice while I was sleeping and she blamed me for all of it!"

Temari, again, couldn't hold back. She pulled the hem of her shirt and pulled the boy behind the man and hit his head. "Blame you say? You were sleeping in the middle of the pavement and at the edge of the river! Is that a unusual place to sleep!?"

The trio Ino-Shika-Cho sighed at this. Looks like they will have both cat and dog in the restaurant. How troublesome.

_Umai: Delicious_

_Tema-nee: (older) Sister Temari. Kinda hard to explain. I decided that Naruto would call her Tema-nee. Hehe…_

_Blanc-hiver: I have gone to Japan so I know exactly what I'm talking about (the river, tortoise, yakiniku restaurant, etc.). The location of this story is Osaka, specifically Ibaraki. It is such a nice place where the major transportation is bicycle. _

_Hope this chap satisfied enough. Review please! _


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